Georgia Succeeds in Personal Data Protection
The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, David Usupashvili, has emphasized that Georgia needs to have transparency in its state institutions and offer protection to the personal lives of the population if the country is to improve on its level of freedom and democracy. Recently, the Euro Commission showed appreciation for Georgia’s positive movement forward regarding personal data protection issues. The three-year activities of the Office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector and its challenges were discussed at the International Data Protection Day event in Tbilisi City Assembly (sakrebulo) on January 28.
The Council of Europe named data protection as one of the main elements for world development and proclaimed January 28 as International Data Protection Day. Georgia joined this annual celebration three years ago from the first founding of the Office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector.
According to Office representatives, their main purposes are informing citizens about personal data, their rights, protection mechanisms, and more, for which purpose they conduct information campaigns and trainings for public and private organizations, as well as for any interested individuals.
The Office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector has gained trust among the population and the number of complaints to the Office increased by six times in 2015 compared to the same period of 2014. Most complaints addressed to the Office last year related to direct marketing (SMS spam), video surveillance, and illegal publication of personal data. The Office has various ways to eliminate these violations such as warnings, guidelines and fines.
“Despite the fact that our Office has already made impressionable success in the personal data protection field, we still have a lot of work,” said Tamar Kaldani, the Personal Data Protection Inspector. “We need more active practical implementation of the current law and its constant updating and improvement.”
The Euro Commission, in the report on Georgia’s visa liberalization, also positively assessed the improvement of personal data protection issues in the country. Accordingly, the main achievements were the creation of a personal data protection law and its approach to international standards; the Office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector opening in 2013; and awareness among the general population.
“The decent work of the Office was one of the factors why our citizens will soon have visa-free movement possibility within the Schengen area,” said the Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili. “We have an ambition to become a member of the European family and we need to introduce the latest standards of personal data protection. The Government will continue to do its utmost to stamp out illegal surveillance, eavesdropping and blackmail,” he said, adding, “Our citizens need to remember that their personal life is out of danger now, and any violation will be severely punished.”
Parliament Chairman, David Usupashvili, also stated that as long as the Office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector is under the Parliament’s control, the population should be sure in its more successful operation, not vice versa.
“Citizens need to know that their financial data, health status, and many other personal details are securely stored in state institutions and are used only to provide them with better services,” Usupashvili said. “We need to create a secure and free country, and this will be possible only when the public institutions activities are transparent and the private lives of citizens fully under their own control.”
Eka Karsaulidze